Radiation monitoring with plant-based biotas and an automated micronucleus scoring approach

Abstract

In this work, we investigated the response of the stem cells from the roots of Allium Cepa (meristems) to ionizing and non-ionizing radiations of different qualities. Allium cepa (Onion) is a well-established in-vivo standard model, widely used in cytogenetic studies for different environmental pollutants. Endpoints, such as chromosomal aberrations (CAs), micronuclei (MNs), and disturbance in the mitotic cycle of root meristematic cells of onion are frequently used to determine the cytotoxic and genotoxic potential of different environmental pollutants. Traditionally, these studies have been carried out to assess chemical toxicity, while the toxicity of ionizing radiation has been studied less extensively. We also examined the repurposing of a previously described optical microscope system originally designed for automated non-fluorescent micronucleus (MN) scoring in binucleated peripheral lymphocytes. The microscope system relies on hardware and software layers in parallel in order to optimize the performance in automated MN scoring.